Diagnostic Accuracy of the Progressive Collapsing Foot Deformity (PCFD) Classification

Abstract

Background: A consensus group recently proposed the term progressive collapsing foot deformity (PCFD) and a new classification with 2 stages plus 5 classes to describe the complex array of flatfoot deformities. This study aimed to validate different diagnostic accuracy rates of the PCFD classification. Methods: This was a survey-based study distributed among 13 foot and ankle fellowship programs for 3 groups of participants with varied experience in practice (group 1: fellows in training, group 2: surgeons in practice for 1-4 years, and group 3: surgeons in practice for ≥5 years). Each participant was asked to assign 20 different cases of flatfoot deformity to the appropriate classes and stages using the PCFD classification. The overall diagnostic accuracy, class, and stage diagnostic accuracy rates for the 20 cases were calculated first for the entire cohort and then compared among the 3 groups. The misdiagnosis rate for each class of deformity (the sum of overdiagnosis and underdiagnosis rates) of the entire cohort was calculated and compared with the other classes. Mean and standard evidence were used to describe numerical data. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare values among the 3 groups and the 5 classes. P